


blurred words, pristine paper

by clickofthecollar



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Light Angst, thasmin, wlw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 12:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17060087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clickofthecollar/pseuds/clickofthecollar
Summary: Being a police officer requires knowledge - a lot of it. Which means, sometimes, Yasmin Khan has to read a textbook. It isn't quite so easy when you're part of the Doctor's fam.





	blurred words, pristine paper

**Author's Note:**

  * For [timelxdy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/timelxdy/gifts).



“Yaz.” Poke

“Yaz.” Pooke.

“Yaaaaaz~!”

Yasmin pulled her gaze away from the textbook full of police procedural information and turned to look at the Doctor, sitting right next to her at the table. She was sure her chair wasn’t that close to her earlier. The blonde was barely inches away, rocking restlessly in her seat.

“Yes?” Yaz asked, trying to keep her voice as light as possible.

The Doctor gestured towards the book with her head. “Y’finished yet?”

Yaz turned her attention back to the printed words on white paper. “It’s only been five minutes.” She’d lost her place now. Where was she? All of the words seemed to be merging into one. She squinted, but that just made everything worse.

“Five minutes is plenty of time! I read War and Peace in five minutes! The endings were a bit confusing though. I asked Tolstoy about them but I never got a straight answer.” Poke.

“No-one can read War and Peace in three min-”

Pooke.

“ _Doctor!_ ” Yaz turned to her, putting the book down again. The Doctor drew her hand back instantly and seemed to shrink in on herself, ducking her head. A pang of guilt flashed through Yaz’s stomach instantly, but she did her best to ignore it. “I told you I’ve got to read this.”

“Give it here.” The Doctor held a hand out, nose scrunched. “I’ll read it and I’ll tell you the good bits.”

Yaz hesitated, looking between her and the book, wondering if she was serious. “I need to know more than just the good bits.”

“Alright then!” The Doctor’s hand hovered in the air, outstretched, waiting. Yaz’s fingers reached onto the table for the textbook and handed it over. She was careful to avoid brushing against the Doctor’s hand as she did so.

As soon as it was out of her grasp, the Doctor’s eyes were narrowed and focused on the page. Then she grabbed all of the pages and started flicking through them like it was some kind of picture book. It barely took three seconds. As soon as she was done, she tossed the book up and over her head. Yaz watched it fly gracefully through the air before it collided into the wall with a thud.

“Well, that was boring.” The Doctor shrugged. “You don’t wanna waste your time reading that. Have you ever read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?”

“ _Doctor!_ I am trying to do my job. I am trying to focus!” Yaz didn’t mean for the words to come out so loud, but they did.

The Doctor shifted away, ever so slightly, and an expression of guilt flashed across her face before she shrugged. “Sorry.”

“You don’t have to-!” Yaz stopped herself short, taking a breath. She heaved herself up from the chair, heading over to grab the book from where it lay on the carpet. “I told you, you don’t have to stay here.” She bent over and picked it up. Did she even remember which page she was on?

“But I wanted to stay with you?”

“Really doesn’t seem like it from here.” She didn’t mean for that to sound that cold, either.

The pressure was really piling on PC Yasmin Khan. Sure, they had a time machine and they could go anywhere, anywhen, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a job here. One that she had to study for, one that she’d wanted most of her life. And if she didn’t learn practically the entire book off by heart soon, she might not get off probation.

Oh, it’d been tempting when the Doctor had first suggested just taking all the time she wanted. A few months, even, then she’d just drop her off ten minutes before the deadline. But Yaz knew that she wouldn’t have that luxury when it came down to it. When she was out there, working, helping. And it was sort of cheating, wasn’t it?

Yaz dropped herself back in the chair, flicking through the book to try and find where she was. Every single page looked the same. She groaned.

After a few moments of searching and failing, she noticed how unusually quiet it was. She looked over at the Doctor. She was still there, just gazing at where the book had originally fallen. Yaz’s resolve softened at the sight of her. It was a rare sight to see those soft, kind, _perfect_ features so still, unmoving. So guilty.

“Doctor.” Yaz’s voice was softer now. The Doctor’s eyes slowly, softly shifted away from the wall and over to settle on Yaz, taking her in. They were wide, focused on her lips. Yaz felt incredibly conscious that her every movement was being studied now. “I’m sorry. I just-...” She drew in a deep breath. “I just meant to say that you don’t have to sit with me. I’ll be fine reading it on my own.”

“What? And go back to the TARDIS all on my lonesome? You know Ryan and Graham aren’t coming until tomorrow. I’d get bored without you.”

 _Is that all I am to you,_ she thinks. She holds her tongue though, her gaze flitting around the Doctor’s face awkwardly, like she can’t quite find the right place to settle. “There must be some part of the TARDIS that needs tinkering with.”

“No, I promised I’d stay with you, and that’s what I’m gonna do. I just didn’t realise it’d take so long!”

“... It’s been five minutes.”

“Exactly. Can get a lot done in five minutes. Ever had al dente pasta? There’s this incredible planet just _made_ of-”

“Doctor, please! This is what I’m talking about.”

She fell silent again, nodding and gesturing to the book. “Yeah. Sure. Go ahead. Sorry, I know it’s important to you.”

Yaz watched her for a few moments, just letting her gaze fall naturally over her features. Those blonde locks, her dark roots. Those eyes that must have seen over a million stars be born and live and die. Those lips, so soft, from which words have been uttered that have stopped wars.

But, she couldn’t just look at her forever, as much as she might want to. Yaz turns her attention back to the book, her eyes settling on the sentence at the top of the page. Why weren’t there any pictures? Or titles, or _anything_ to make _something_ stand out. It didn’t help that, even with the Doctor sitting so close, she just felt lonely now that she’d made her sad.

It’d only been five seconds before she felt something on her shoulder. She turned her head, just barely, catching sight of those exact same blonde locks and dark roots resting on her shoulder. She must have scooted her chair closer.

“That’s not all you are to me,” The Doctor murmured, so quietly she could scarcely be heard. “All you are to me is everything, Yaz.”

But Yaz didn’t tell her to stop, didn’t get angry or anything. She just smiled, tilting her head and resting atop the Doctor’s, reading in silence with her by her side.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! Really just something short, this got way angstier than I intended, I apologise~


End file.
